Dental hygienist wins $348,000 from boss who forced her to quit after demanding she take Scientology classes

A dental hygienist has won $348,000 in compensation from her boss after he demanded she attend a Scientology seminar so persistently that she was forced to quit and flee the state.

Susan Muhleman won the sum at a court in Oregon for emotional duress and the cost of finding new employment.

It's the largest judgement imposed by
the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries in recent history, an agency
representative told The Oregonian.

Hard decisions: Mother Susan Muhleman said she was forced to leave her family to search for work

Muhleman was working as a dental assistant at the Bend, Ore., practice of Dr. Andrew W. Engel when her boss ordered her to attend a three-day Scientology training session for life skills with co-workers.

When the devout Christian told him she wouldn't attend because of her faith, Engel threatened to fire her.

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Muhleman tried to bargain with him, asking if she could attend a non-religious training seminar. But Engel persisted for days, dismissing her concerns Scientology conflicted with her religious beliefs.

Happier times: Susan Muhleman refused to compromise her Christian beliefs even at the cost of a job

Unable to take any more and with only weeks to the conference, Muhleman quit in August 2009 then fled the state to find work.

Muhleman told reporters she was terrified to leave a job with Bend's unemployment rate stuck at a whopping 15.2 per cent, but Engel left her no choice.

"It weighed very heavy on me to have to make a decision like that for the future of my family," she said.

Father knows best: Dr. Andrew Engel will have to pay a former employee $348,000 for threatening to fire her for refusing to take a Scientology course

In November 2009 she filed a complain with the bureau's civil rights division.

The
bureau investigation determined Muhleman had been the victim of
harassment that cost her wages, expenses to leave the state, emotional
distress, and separated her from her teenage daughter while she sought
employment.

Special treatment: Scientology is reportedly bending the rules by allowing Tom Cruise to see his daughter Suri, who is no longer a member of the church

Bureau commissioner Brad Avakian said workers deserved to know they were safe from being forced to compromise their religious beliefs.

'When an employee asks for an
accommodation of their religious beliefs, there needs to be a real
discussion about accommodation,' Avakian said. 'Not a ‘my way or the highway’ dismissal
by the employer.'

The State of Oregon Board of Dentistry has never disciplined Engel since he got earned his state dental license in 1998.